Page 18 of Her Cyborg Commander
She waited.
The night wind sang, almost obscuring the sound of movement. The slip of boot moving against sand and then a click that seemed as loud as a rifle shot.
A flash of light erupted, accompanied by a brief cry of surprise and pain.
“Got you,” she whispered. Now she knew where the intruder was, even if she couldn’t see them. The voice was distinctly male, which ended any supposition that it might be Hezza coming back to try and talk her out of staying here.
The pressure plate she’d buried beneath the sand was wired to a small battery. It didn’t have enough juice to be lethal, but it would put any being smaller than a Torski on their ass and possibly knock them unconscious.
She crept closer to the intruder’s location, her rifle raised to low ready as she scanned the area. She could have looked through the scope, but while that would improve her visual acuity by a small measure, it would also restrict her field of view. It wasn’t worth the risk.
Below her, something moved. Damn. He was back on his feet already? Did her trap fail? Or was her shadowy visitor not human?
She raised her pulse rifle to the high-ready position. Now he’d given away his location, this would escalate fast.
At least, that’s what she thought…until her unknown intruder called out.
“Damn it, River! I knew you weren’t going to be happy to see me, but I wasn’t expecting to getfraxxingflash fried.”
She froze. Was that… no? It couldn’t be. He couldn’t have found her already. Only somehow… he had. It took all her concentration to keep her voice steady and even as she spoke his name. “Edge?”
“In the slightly singed flesh.” A shadow moved away from the cover of the rocky wall and came to a stop where she could seehim. Slowly, letting her see what he was doing, he set a duffle bag at his feet.
River had already compared his voice to the ones in her files and confirmed his identity, but once she saw him move, there could be no doubt. Edge didn’t so much walk as prowl into view, his every movement as familiar to her as the back of her own hand.
“Hell of a place you picked to hide out. When Hezza told me she’d dropped you into a dust bowl, I thought she was exaggerating,” he called to her.
“Welcome to DB-1. Now, what thefraxxare you doing here and how soon can you leave?” She nodded to herself, pleased at the firm tone she’d managed despite her shock at his unexpected arrival and the hurt at knowing Hezza had given up her location so quickly.
“Can we have this conversation somewhere else? I think something just tried to eat my foot.”
“Sand shark. That must have been one of the small ones. The big ones could bite you in half.” At least, that’s what she assumed, but Edge didn’t need to know that last bit.
“Wonderful. I did not come all this way to get eaten. Not to mention zapped so hard I think you fried a few circuits.”
“We don’t have circuits,” she retorted. “And if you’d stayed away like I told you to, you wouldn’t have anything to complain about.”
Despite the distance between them, she distinctly heard him growl before he answered her. “Did you really think I would do that? That I’d sit back and let you face that son-of-a-starbeast alone?”
“No,” she admitted. “But I hoped you’d respect my wishes, anyway. I came here to keep Haven and everyone I care about safe.”
“And I came here to keepyousafe.”
Edge yelped, pulled a foot off the sand, and then stomped the ground hard. “Fraxxingthing took another bite out of my boot!”
“There’s no accounting for taste. Stay put. I’ll come to you and show you the safe path into camp.”
“And if something tries to eat me in the meantime?” he demanded.
“The sand is too shallow for the big ones to come this close. You’re more likely to get stung by something venomous. Or you could stumble into another of my traps.”
Grinning, River moved the pulse rifle to rest on her back and began the journey back to ground level. She didn’t hurry. It wouldn’t hurt for Edge to stew for a few extra seconds as he wondered if anything out in the dark was sizing him up as a snack. Not that anything would want more than a taste of the male. He’d be tough as leather and probably bitter, too. She laughed in amusement as she descended.
“So glad you’re enjoying yourself at my expense,” Edge grumbled. His banter was out of character, and she wondered why he hadn’t started cursing her for leaving the moment he’d come within earshot. That was more like the male she knew. This was a version of Edge she’d only seen once or twice and never for more than a brief moment.
She rather liked this side of him. Not that she’d admit it to him.
“You may have noticed that there isn’t much in the way of entertainment out here. I’ve got to get my laughs where I can.”
